Hydrodynamics

Physical Explanation and Modeling of Wind, Water and Sediment Dynamics

Wind–Water–Sediment Dynamics

We develop physics-first hydrodynamic models that connect turbulence, roughness, and multiscale transport to predict sediment suspension, scour/deposition, and flow–ecosystem interactions shaping rivers, coasts, and engineered channels.

Turbulence & Roughness Sediment Transport Scour & Deposition Vegetated Flows
Hydrodynamics

What does “Hydrodynamics” mean in our group?

In our work, hydrodynamics is a bridge between turbulence physics and real-world transport: how momentum, energy, particles, and scalars move through rivers, wetlands, and coastal systems.

  • deriving transport laws from turbulence budgets and spectra
  • quantifying how roughness and vegetation reshape flow structure
  • predicting suspension, settling, scour, and deposition
  • building models that are interpretable, scalable, and validated

Rather than relying on empirical correlations alone, we connect observations to mechanisms so models remain reliable under nonstationary forcing and climate-driven extremes.


What projects are we working on?

Example questions we ask
  • What is the minimal turbulence physics needed to predict bulk sediment transport?
  • When do classical models break, and what replaces them?
  • How do roughness and vegetation reorganize effective diffusivities?
  • Can we derive universal scaling laws stable under climate change?
  • How do we build models that are both field-validated and deployment-ready?

Core research directions
🌀 Turbulence → bulk transport laws

First-principles links between turbulence energetics and sediment transport.

🧱 Walls, roughness, and dissipation

Mechanistic explanations of friction-factor transitions.

🌿 Vegetation–flow–transport coupling

From canopy-scale turbulence to field-scale outcomes.

⚗️ Settling, suspension, multiscale turbulence

When classical settling theories succeed or fail.